The New York Timesis reporting that the National Security Agency has installed software in approximately 100,000 international computers worldwide for surveillance, which could help provide a highway to stop future cyberattacks.
Most of the software enters via the computer’s networks, but the NSA has also used a secret technology that allows entry even if the device is not connected to the Internet. TheTimes states this information is based off of computer experts and documents leaked by former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden. The information has been used for over five years now, and operates using a channel of secret radio waves transmitted from circuit boards inserted in the computers. "The radio frequency technology has helped solve one of the biggest problems facing American intelligence agencies for years: getting into computers that adversaries," the newspaper says, "and some American partners, have tried to make impervious to spying or cyberattack."
"In most cases, the radio frequency hardware must be physically inserted by a spy, a manufacturer or an unwitting user," the report continued.
However, The Times states that there’s evidence that this software has been used in the United States. And on Friday, President Barack Obama plants to divulge multiple intelligence reforms that should give Americans more confidence that their privacy is not being violated.
[via NY Times]
